The present invention relates generally to tools, and more particularly to a new and improved universal setting tool which is especially adapted for use in connection with the insertion and fixation of different diameter rebars and threaded rods within, for example, blind bores formed within concrete, masonry, rock, and similar substrates or underlying substructures, wherein a suitable adhesive or other similar bonding material is disposed within the blind bores for fixedly securing the rebars and threaded rods therewithin when the adhesive bonding material cures and sets.
Rebars and threaded rods, studs, or anchors are extensively utilized within, for example, the construction industry in order to mount various components upon concrete, masonry, rock, and similar substrates or underlying foundations. Normally, the substrate or underlying foundation is provided with a blind bore within which the rebar or threaded rod, stud, or anchor is to be fixedly secured by means of, for example, a suitable adhesive bonding material, which has been previously disposed within the bottom portion of the blind bore or hole, upon curing and setting of the adhesive material. Exemplary threaded stud or anchor systems are disclosed within U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,625 which issued to Bonner on Jan. 8, 1991, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,875 which issued to Sadanandan et al. on Sep. 20, 1983. As disclosed within FIG. 1, which substantially corresponds to FIG. 1 of the Sadanandan et al. patent, a blind bore 10 has been drilled within a concrete, masonry, rock, or similar foundation 14, and in order to fixedly secure a threaded stud 5 within the drilled bore 10, a capsule or ampule 8 containing adhesive resin materials is disposed within the bottom of the bore or hole 10. A drive unit 1 comprises an upper end portion 3 which is adapted to be mounted within a chuck mechanism 12 of a rotary drill, not shown, and a lower end portion 4 which is externally threaded in a manner similar to that of the threaded stud 5. An internally threaded nut member 6 is adapted to join the lower externally threaded end portion 4 of the drive unit 1 to the upper end portion of the threaded stud 5 as a result of the convexly shaped end portion 11 of the drive unit 1 being disposed in abutment with the upper planar end portion of the threaded stud 5.
When the threaded stud 5 is to be fixedly secured within the bore or hole 10 of the foundation or substrate 14, the lower chamfered or tapered end portion 7 of the threaded stud 5 is forced downwardly against the capsule or ampule 8 so as to fracture the same, and upon actuation of the drill tool, not shown, the threaded stud 5 is driven downwardly to the bottom end portion of the bore or hole 10 so as to not only be seated within the lowermost depth portion thereof but to also agitate and fully mix the adhesive resin materials or components together. When the threaded stud 5 is fully seated within the lowermost depth region of the bore or hole 10, operation of the drill tool is terminated, and a pair of wrenches are respectively applied to the nut member 6 and the intermediate hexagonally-configured portion 2 of the drive unit 1. Upon rotation of such members 6,2 in the opposite directions, the drive unit 1 is separated from the nut member 6 and the threaded stud 5. When the adhesive bonding materials cure and set, the threaded stud 5 is fixedly secured within the foundation 14 so as to permit various components or devices to be mounted thereon or attached thereto. While the aforenoted patented system or assembly is operatively viable, it is apparent that in order to release the,drive unit 1 from the threaded stud 5 which is mounted within the foundation 14, the disengagement operation or procedure is relatively time-consuming due to the need for utilizing a pair of wrenches, and in addition, in light of the fact that a pair of wrenches are required to be used, additional tools need to be carried or utilized by the operator personnel.
Accordingly, the threaded stud or anchor system, as disclosed within the aforenoted patent to Bonner, was developed so as to effectively overcome the various operational disadvantages or drawbacks characteristic of the anchor system disclosed within the aforenoted patent to Sadanandan et al., and as disclosed within FIG. 2, which corresponds substantially to FIG. 1 of the Bonner patent, a drilled hole 11 is formed within a concrete foundation member 10, and a breakable capsule 12, containing a suitable chemical adhesive material, is disposed within the bottom of the bore 11. An externally threaded stud or anchor 13 is adapted have its conically shaped or pointed lower end portion 14 inserted within the drilled bore 11, while the upper end portion of the threaded stud or anchor 13 is adapted to be disposed within a driver 18. The lower end portion of the driver 18 is provided with an internally threaded bore 26, and the axially inner end portion of the bore or hole 26 is undercut or radially enlarged as at 27, while the transversely extending end wall of the bore or hole 26 has an axially tapered face 28.
An adaptor 30 is releasably attached to the upper end portion of the driver 18 by means of a transversely oriented retainer pin 38 and is provided for operatively connecting the driver 18 to a rotary drive means, such as, for example, an electric drill, not shown. The adaptor 30 comprises an upper shank portion 31 which is adapted to be disposed within the chuck portion of the drill, and a lower shaft portion 34 which is adapted to be seated within an axial bore 35 formed within the upper body portion 19 of the driver 18. The transversely extending pin 38 extends through a transverse bore 40 formed within the upper body portion 19 of the driver 18, as well as through a transverse bore 39 formed within the adaptor shaft portion 34, and is retained in position by means of an O-ring 41 disposed within a peripheral groove 42. It is noted that when the upper end portion of the threaded stud or anchor 13 is disposed within the internally threaded bore or hole portion 26 of the driver 18, the axially tapered face 28 comprising the transversely extending end wall of the bore or hole 26 will be disposed in pressed contact with the convexly shaped upper end portion 15 of the threaded stud or anchor 13. It is further noted that the mode of operation of drivingly inserting the threaded stud or anchor 13 within the bore 11 of the foundation 10 is submitted to be readily apparent, and is similar to that previously described in connection with the aforenoted patent to Sadanandan et al., and therefore, a detailed description of the same will be omitted. In addition to the use of suitable chemical adhesive materials, within such anchor bonding systems such as those disclosed within the aforenoted Sadanandan et al. and Bonner patents, wherein the chemical adhesive materials are initially disposed within self-contained capsules or ampules which are adapted to be subsequently fractured by means of the lower end portions of the threaded rods or anchors, it is noted that other types of adhesive components may also be used within such anchoring systems, such as, for example, the rope, slug, or stick as disclosed within U.S. Pat. No. 6,416,256 which issued to Surjan et al. on Jul 9, 2002.
While the aforenoted threaded anchor insertion systems of Bonner and Sadanandan et al. have proven to be commercially successful, it can nevertheless be readily appreciated that the systems of Bonner and Sadanandan et al. are only capable of being used to drivingly insert threaded rods or anchors into the pre-drilled bores or holes within the underlying substrates or foundations in view of the fact that threaded engagement must be defined between the upper free end portion of the threaded rod or anchor and the driver or drive unit. Accordingly, such drive insertion systems cannot be used in connection with the insertion and fixation of rebar members within bores or holes pre-drilled within underlying substrates or foundations, and similarly, such drive insertion systems cannot be used in connection with the insertion of rebars, or threaded rods or anchors, which have different diametrical extents.
A need therefore exists in the art for a new and improved setting tool or drive mechanism, for use in connection with rebars, or threaded rods or anchors, and the like, which are adapted to be fixedly secured within concrete, masonry, rock, or similar foundations or underlying substrates by means of suitable adhesive materials disposed within pre-drilled bores or holes, wherein the same setting tool or drive mechanism can be utilized in conjunction with the insertion and fixation of both rebar or threaded rod type anchors, wherein further, the same setting tool or drive mechanism can be utilized in conjunction with the insertion and fixation of different rebar or threaded rod type anchors having different diametrical extents, and wherein the setting tool or drive mechanism can quickly engage both the rebar or threaded rod type anchor so as to impart the necessary rotary motion thereto in order to effectively insert the same into the adhesive material as well as to cause mixing and activation of the adhesive material, as well as rapidly disengage the rebar or threaded rod type anchor so as not to disturb the same while the adhesive material is curing and setting.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved setting tool which is effectively universal in that the same can be used in connection with the insertion and fixation of both threaded rod and rebar type anchors within bores or holes which are pre-drilled within underlying substrates or foundations and which have suitable adhesive bonding materials disposed therein.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved setting tool which is effectively universal in that the same can be used in connection with the insertion and fixation of both threaded rod and rebar type anchors within bores or holes which are pre-drilled within underlying substrates or foundations and which have suitable adhesive bonding materials disposed therein, whereby such new and improved setting tool effectively overcomes the various operational disadvantages or drawbacks characteristic of PRIOR ART setting tools.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved setting tool which is effectively universal in that the same can be used in connection with the insertion and fixation of both threaded rod and rebar type anchors within bores or holes which are pre-drilled within underlying substrates or foundations and which have suitable adhesive bonding materials disposed therein, and wherein further, the setting tool can also be used in connection with the insertion and fixation of different rebar and threaded rod type anchors having different diametrical extents.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved setting tool which is effectively universal in that the same can be used in connection with the insertion and fixation of both threaded rod and rebar type anchors within bores or holes which are pre-drilled within underlying substrates or foundations and which have suitable adhesive bonding materials disposed therein, and wherein further the setting tool can rapidly engage both the threaded rod and rebar type anchors so as to readily and quickly perform the insertion and fixation procedures.
A last object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved setting tool which is effectively universal in that the same can be used in connection with the insertion and fixation of both threaded rod and rebar type anchors within bores or holes which are pre-drilled within underlying substrates or foundations and which have suitable adhesive bonding materials disposed therein, and wherein further the setting tool can be rapidly disengaged from both the threaded rod and rebar type anchors so as to readily and quickly complete the insertion and fixation procedures without adversely affecting or disturbing the disposition of the threaded rod or rebar type anchors within the adhesive bonding material disposed within the pre-drilled bores or holes defined within the underlying substrate or foundation.
The foregoing and other objectives are achieved in accordance with the teachings and principles of the present invention through the provision of a new and improved setting tool which comprises a collet member which comprises a stub shaft portion at one end thereof for fixed disposition within a rotary chuck mechanism of a rotary drive tool, and an axially oriented stepped bore extends into the interior of the collet from the opposite-end thereof. A coil spring is disposed within the stepped bore, and one end of the coil spring is staked or secured upon the collet. The coil spring effectively defines an axially oriented expansible and contractible tubular member into which a free end portion of a rebar or threaded rod anchor member can be inserted. In this manner, after the free end portion of the rebar or threaded rod anchor member has been inserted into the tubular spring member, the rotary drive tool, and therefore the collet member through means of its stub shaft fixedly mounted within the rotary tool chuck mechanism, is rotated in the clockwise direction so as to effectively cause a radial contraction of the tubular spring member. Continued rotation of the collet member eventually causes sufficient radial contraction of the tubular spring member such that the tubular spring member will tightly engage the rebar or threaded rod anchor member so as to effectively establish a drive connection with the rebar or threaded rod anchor member.
Accordingly, when the opposite end of the rebar or threaded rod anchor member is then inserted into an adhesive material, which is disposed within a pre-drilled bore or hole formed within an underlying substrate or foundation, further rotation of the chuck mechanism and the collet member will correspondingly cause rotation of the threaded rod or rebar anchor member, as a result of the aforenoted drive connection defined between the radially contracted tubular spring member and the rebar or threaded rod anchor member, so as to mix and activate the adhesive material. Upon complete insertion of the rebar or threaded rod anchor member into the adhesive material so as to achieve its finalized disposition within the pre-drilled bore or hole formed within the underlying substrate or foundation, rotation of the rotary drive tool in the opposite counterclockwise direction causes a corresponding rotation of the collet member and the tubular spring member thereby causing the tubular spring to readily undergo radial expansion whereby the tubular spring member is effectively released or disengaged from its driven interconnection with respect to the rebar or threaded rod anchor member so as to permit the setting tool to be quickly removed from the rebar or threaded rod anchor member without adversely affecting or disturbing the same with respect to its adhesively bonded disposition within the pre-drilled bore or hole formed within the underlying substrate or foundation. As a result of the provision of the radially expansible and contractible spring member, both rebar and threaded rod anchor members are able to be drivingly inserted into the adhesive material disposed within the bores or holes pre-drilled within the underlying foundations or substrates, and in addition, different rebars or threaded rod anchor members, having different diametrical extents, can be driven by means of the setting tool of the present invention.